Ikebana in Watercolours - and more!

In the past week the Aquarellistas created paintings of the beautiful Japanese Ikebana flower arrangements. They look simple, but everything is important for the composition, The position, the light, the background, the colours; the vase - everything. And guess what, those talented artists did it all! Results were so good, see for yourself, here they are in no particular order...

Thecla created this friendly painting of a lovely little very Japanese plant with flowers, in a beautiful dark porcelain bowl

Anne chose a picture that shows her original taste - and she did  justice to the daring design. 

Martine was inspired by this warm and very delicate composition, and she improved it by leaving out some of the leaves, giving it even more 'zen'.

Corinne's painting is -as always- well executed, and somehow this composition is very fitting to her, calm, firm and at the same time sensitive and unexpected. I love everything about it, special compliment for the black dish.

In far away Sweden, Elisabeth was inspired by the same picture as Anne but she took a different approach in background and she chose for reflection where Anne interpreted the vase as white on top of black. Both excellent solutions! 

And as usual she also did a free style version, more spontaneous. It looks fun and a bit crazy - except for the vase that is so real and transparent and beautifully shiny!

Ingrid created this lovely all-green Ikebana arrangement. It somehow looks very warm and the balance is so interesting!

 

I started one too and then finished it at home, that's how much I loved painting it.

And then there were other projects going on: 

Roxane started her 'couleur locale' project on gesso'd canvas, for the Hangar Expo. The most important parts are still white - but even so, it is already promising and clear what it is going to be! 


Sandra is also working for that expo, but she will glue or sew it to the canvas. Undecided if it is going to be the painting above or below, or both. Hard choice, they are both very good!

Anne finished the background of her butterfly painting. I am very happy with it - it makes the outlook so peaceful and far away.

Corinne missed the dewdrops last week and chose the little flower to practice on. 

Ingrid participated in the Mimosa painting a couple of weeks ago and forgot to send the result. But as it is fully worth a mention, here it is for you to admire!

Anna also missed the dewdrop demo and fell in love with the blue violet flower, just like Corinne. very delicate and a great job on the dewdrops, without any explanation!!

Painting Dew Drops in watercolours

The Aquarellistas were at it again last week, with a small but talented and dedicated group. We painted Dew Drops, not super difficult in itself, and giving a wonderful effect! I gave a small introduction and demo on how to add a dew drop to a flower of another coloured surface, very similar to the 'spheres' but just a little bit different:

On an existing surface, paint an ellipse in a similar colour, and decide where the highlight will be. Make the colour darker (more pigment) there.


When it is dry, paint a dark sharp shadow underneath

With a (Stanley-)knife scratch away the paint where the highlight should be. Because that is the the colour of the paper, thus the lightest colour, it will become quite spectacular!

Fabulous painting and very well done on the light and transparent dewdrop by Anne

A foursome to be, by Anna Karin. Going to be so great!

Luckily Thecla became happier and happier with this fabulous bamboo with dew. Love it!

Charlie 'upped' a painting by adding a dewdrop. So delicate! and rather quick, as she painted 3 other works (below)

Elisabeth works with us from Sweden and missed the demo, but watched some YouTube instructions and look at this! Great stuff really well done. Looks like she aways paints 1  that is close to the example and 1 that is 'wild'. Love them both!

 

I did one too because there were not so many takers last week, so plenty of time. No masterpiece but I had great fun... It is a tomato 😀



As I mentioned already, Charlie was on a roll, next to a lovely dewdrop, she finished 2 gorgeous butterflies and started a new one (below) It is superb, also because it really jumps from the paper.

And also by Charlie, this butterfly with amazing colours. I also love the background! so lush and suppe and very watercolour!

And another productive individual - Judith. 

This is the start of something, that may lead to a completely different painting, or hardly change... Always exciting and you will see the result in due time. 

And she also has her other side, where she draws very precise, sweet portraits of dogs and children. Couldn't help myself, it is not watercolours but had to show them anyway. Lovely right?!

Butterflies in Watercolours - and more

In the latest Watercolour session, the (well some) Aquarellistas painted butterflies! A subject that is poetic, light, soft and at the same time colourful, with clear graphic shapes. It was super hard to do but the results are really good. Next week something simple (or more butterflies)

Corinne's butterfly is so absolutely fantastic. you can see those wings subtly moving. And the colours in the photo are a bit more flat than in the actual painting, can you imagine...

Charlie is planning a set of 4 butterflies, the first two are as good as finished, with a wonderful subtlety and a refined use of colours. Love those green backgrounds!!!

Anne did an amazing job on her butterfly, I am impressed. Background to come, might be green but we'll see, next week I hope...

Elisabeth will be 'our correspondent in Sweden' for the coming months She works hard and gets results I love the sweet butterfly above, and the wild one below maybe even more! Those splashes make the painting so lively 💜

And this seahorse, Elisabeth's WIP last week, is now finished, I love the contrast of the red background with the blue face - this gives it so much depth!

V
Laura's seahorse also finished and it is still SO good!!! I love everything about it, the style, the colours, the technique (different layers) the light. Superb. And she finished her bird, a big tough Jay with a lot of character.



Sandra is working on a new lotus flower-composition and it already looks fabulous and interesting! Depending on how it develops, it may become the 'Couleur Locale' painting for the Hangar Expo...

Sylvie's WIP - Couleur Locale with the sea and the beach and a set of beautiful porcelain pots...

 

Two beautiful 'Greek Pillars' paintings in watercolours (and a lot of other stuff)

In the latest watercolour session, there was a suggestion to paint Greek pillars - but everyone had their own subjects. It was such an original afternoon, in which everyone inspired each other - and a lot of orange was used!.

 
Corinne felt like painting the pillars. She used a very complicated example and created a simplified version that is breathtaking and very deep

And in far-away Brittany Michele also felt like painting a Pillar! It it has extra appeal to her because she will travel to Greece next month! We hope for more inspiration from that trip...

Laura hadn't been for a while, she missed out on the seahorses and  really wanted to paint one next to the bird-watercolour she was finishing . This is a WIP and to quote Charlie "it is a REAL watercolour"


Charlie finished her seahorse. it has a lovey face and expression now. The orange is very strong when backed by its complementary colour blue!

Sandra had a good old struggle with this version of 'Couleur Locale'. It is not yet done and more versions may be posted in the coming weeks - whatever it ends up like, the process is very interesting!

Roxane also practised for 'Couleur Locale' (the theme of the Hangar Expo) with (what I think are) sweet pea flowers. She's definitely getting there!!

Here are the pebbles by Anna Karin, with a bit more burnt sienna in the background, which 'grounds' them more (very subtle). She is considering to do some more work to make them look like they are in  shallow water. WIP! You'll see it when it happens. And a very typical Anna Karin  snowdrop was added on the right. Fabulous page.

Sylvie finished her fire carp. It is very interesting, how the orange works in the colour scheme - it is like an aura. and the fins are so subtle, she used watercolour ink and dip pen for them. And signed with masking fluid! how clever!